Croatia formally sends letter to FIFA after farce fifa world cup The last-32 knockout clash against Portugal accused football’s governing body of allowing technology to overtake its role in deciding matches.The Croatian Football Federation (HNS) has questioned the use of advanced technology during Portugal’s 2-1 win, with its complaints centered on the video assistant referee (VAR) process and the use of data generated by the Trionda match ball.The controversy further developed in injury time when Joko Gvardiol appeared to score the equalizer to keep Croatia’s World Cup hopes alive. Although the goal was initially ruled a goal, referee Espen Escos overturned the decision after a lengthy VAR review.Offside calls aren’t just based on traditional TV footage. Instead, FIFA’s ball-control technology detected what officials determined was a tiny touch on Igor Matanovic’s hair before the ball reached Gvardiol, changing the offside calculation and causing the goal to be disallowed.While TV replays appeared to show the goal was legal, FIFA defended the decision by pointing to data collected by sensors embedded in the official match ball.“The IMU sensor installed in the Trionda ball is able to identify any slight contact and display it to the audience in the form of a ‘heartbeat graphic’ during the broadcast and allows officials access to an unprecedented level of data to make quick, accurate decisions,” FIFA said in a statement.However, Croatia believes the incident raises wider concerns about the direction of football refereeing. The federation believes that relying on imperceptible contacts detected solely by technology exceeds the intended purpose of VAR and departs from the principle of only correcting “clear and obvious” errors.HNS’s complaint also challenges the decision to award Portugal a second-half penalty, which cristiano ronaldo In the 68th minute, the score was equalized.In an interview with RTL Danas, HNS spokesman Tomislav Pacak explained why the federation decided to report the matter to FIFA president Gianni Infantino.“The Croatian Football Federation has written to FIFA President Gianni Infantino in which we express our deep disappointment and disagreement over the match against Portugal, not because of the referee’s decisions themselves, as these can be discussed after each match, but because of the process itself that led to these decisions.“Firstly, we believe that the VAR protocol was completely incorrectly applied to Portugal’s penalty kick and the referee should not have been called to review the footage. More importantly, as Guardiola equalized, Pasalic was flagged for offside due to Matanovic’s non-existent ball movement, violating the rules of football and the spirit of football because the sensors showed this.”Patzak emphasized that Croatia is not opposed to technological innovation in football, but believes that this should not damage the spirit of the game.“We believe this is a misuse of technology and we welcome it in the football community, but we do not believe that this kind of application is beneficial to FIFA, teams and fans. We know that our letter will not reduce the pain and disappointment of fans and players, but we think it is important to warn FIFA and ask for a detailed explanation of all decisions,” he concluded.FIFA has so far supported refereeing procedures and the technology used in matches, but Croatia’s formal complaint intensifies the debate over the extent to which technical assistance should influence key decisions at football’s biggest tournament.
